I don't have experience with drilling or cutting plexi (yet), but could you drill a 1 1/8" hole in a piece of scrap wood, then center that over your 1" hole and open it up with a router using a trim flush bit?

Thanks guys - I actually ended up getting a step bit and I'm glad I did. Canadian Tire had one on for $17, regular $59 so I grabbed that as well as a 3-pack set of smaller ones to drill out the perimeter holes to accommodate the carriage bolts Wyo so graciously sent me.

The stepped bit made easy work of it and I just worked slowly, drilling one side and then the other to remove any material building up. As the vinyl was affixed already, it wanted to gum up if going to fast. I finished off by cleaning up the edge w/ an Xacto blade.

I had 3 fresh holes I had to make as well that the print ship didn't do. I guess they have a CNC template for these 'stock' CPs but I left some registration marks on the artwork so I'd know where to drill:

Wyo's bolts with the holes enlarged:

For the perimeter holes, I just used the plexi as a template and drilled through the MDF:

Hey guys. So, shortly after I finished high-5'ing myself for a job well-done on the CP, one of the perimeter carriage bolt holes in the acrylic started spider-legging. F^&k!

I've made arrangements for a new CP to be shipped but I'm now wondering if maybe I should have the artwork printed but NOT attached to the acrylic. This way, if it cracks again, I can just go get a new piece vs ruining the artwork along with it.

Can you see any reason why this is a bad idea? I'm assuming the artwork would be sandwiched tight between the painted MDF and acrylic and would look just as good as being 'stuck'...

'Luckily' I've yet to wire up the XinMo and buttons. I was tempted to try to heat-gun the artwork to try to remove but I think trying to preserve it and keep it from being distorted in the process would be futile.

The only thing I can think is that I may have tightened the bolt nut too much on this one.

What is the best material to print my marqee on if I am sandwiching it between to pieces of perspex? I am finding I get like moisture/damp stains when they are all hard pressed together, is there way to avid this?

Bummer about the spider web crack. That definitely can happen from over tightening the bolts. I've done it before myself....and even with my OCD, I've let it go.

However, I learned on the next builds just to snug them down...and not geT them crazy tight to avoid that...plus bowing the plex.

I would definitely reprint the art and make your own plex. You have all the tools you need now, it's easy. If you need to you can attach the vinyl overlay to some thicker card stock to keep it from being wavy under your plex.

Also, your CP is so perfect, I had to go run and look at some of mine to see how it compares. Haha. Beautiful work.

Bummer about the spider web crack. That definitely can happen from over tightening the bolts. I've done it before myself....and even with my OCD, I've let it go.

However, I learned on the next builds just to snug them down...and not geT them crazy tight to avoid that...plus bowing the plex.

I would definitely reprint the art and make your own plex. You have all the tools you need now, it's easy. If you need to you can attach the vinyl overlay to some thicker card stock to keep it from being wavy under your plex.

Also, your CP is so perfect, I had to go run and look at some of mine to see how it compares. Haha. Beautiful work.

Haha - thanks Wyo - I appreciate the compliment. Man, I go down and check it from time to time and think, "It's not that bad, I could probably let it go." but it's like a sliver...

It makes sense to have the CP printed and then just buy a piece of acrylic from a sign shop. Escape Pod cut my bezel to the wrong dimensions and are making good on sending out a new one. If I can get them to throw a new CP in the box, I'll do that. Otherwise, I'll just have it printed locally. I'm pretty eager to button this up and play the thing already!

Well, it's taken approximately 3 weeks for the replacement bezel to arrive. Escape Pod cut the first one to the wrong size, made good on a replacement, and shipped at N/C.

Since the artwork was attached to the plexi, that was ruined as well. I had them include new CP artwork and upon opening the box yesterday, the artwork was just put in the box, free to float around. It's beyond me as to why greater care wasn't taken as it would have been 5 extra minutes to sandwich the artwork between some cardboard or rolled into a shipping tube. We'll see if Escape Pod makes good on it - I've requested that they send it via express post so there's no more unnecessary delays.

Anyway - sounds like a rant and I guess it is. Escape Pod, if you're reading through these forums, hopefully you'll redeem yourself. I'm tempted to just have the artwork printed locally at this point and swallow the extra cost.

On a positive, the bezel looks great. It was about 1/16" too wide, so I ran it through the bandsaw after taping off the front. Tomorrow I'll throw in the side and top support / retainers and that will button up things up. I had this printed on smoked acrylic and the monitor looks pretty slick all lit up.

On the to-do list: Complete the control panel, wire up the Xin Mo, wire up the coin mech to the Xin-Mo and then finally map the buttons! Playing this thing is long overdue...

Here are some photos of the arcade and of the crushed artwork. I tried to gently warm it with an iron between some thick paper but it didn't remove the creases. You can see in the photos where the vinyl is torn on the edge as well.